ca. 600 B.C.E.
Ezra the Scribe reconstructs the Hebrew scriptures destroyed by the Babylonians
ca. 250 B.C.E.
Formation of the Septuagint commences; according to legend, with the Hebrew Torah translated into Greek in Alexandria at the command of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 B.C.E.)
ca. 3 B.C.E.
Birth of Christ
ca. 30 C.E.
Crucifixion of Christ
ca. 50–60
First Christian texts (some of the Pauline Epistles) written
ca. 65–70
Gospel of St. Mark composed
ca. 80–90
Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke, and Acts of the Apostles composed
ca. 85–95
Gospel of St. John composed
late 1st century
Other letters composed (of James, of Peter, of John, to the Hebrews)
ca. 95
Apocalypse / Revelation of John composed
ca. 100
Council of Jamnia determines the canonical text of the Hebrew Bible, known as the “Masoretic” text
ca. 125
Earliest surviving manuscript of a gospel written (St. John, known from fragments)
second century
Old Testament books start to be individually translated from Hebrew into Syriac
first half 2nd century
Christian writings—letters, gospels, and apocalypses—multiply; Pauline Epistles circulate as a collection
ca. 180
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, asserts the primacy of the four gospels (St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John); Tatian, a Syrian, produces the Diatessaron, a single narrative drawn from the gospels and additional material
early 3rd century
Origen of Alexandria compiles a comparative edition of the Old Testament in Hebrew and Greek, the Hexapla
late 3rd century
St. Anthony retreats into the eastern desert of Egypt, beginning a trend towards ascetic desert monasticism
303
Emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of Christian books during the “Great Persecution”
312
Constantine sees a vision of the Cross and triumphs at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge
313
Edict of Milan: Emperor Constantine grants freedom of worship throughout the Western Empire
early 4th century
Armenia becomes the first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion; Gregory the Illuminator ordained bishop of Armenia (ca. 314); Christianity introduced to Ethiopia from Egypt
324
Constantine defeats Emperor Licinius and reunites the Empire’s two halves
325
Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council, condemns Arianism
330
Constantinople (now Istanbul) founded by Constantine as a bridgehead between East and West
332
Constantine commissions Bishop Eusebius to supply the churches he has founded in Rome with complete Bibles
ca. 337
Georgia accepts Christianity as its state religion
mid–4th century
Codex Sinaiticus, the earliest surviving complete Christian Bible, is made in Caesarea
363
Council of Laodicea lists 26 canonical books for reading in church (omitting Revelation)
ca. 372
St. Martin of Tours introduces monasticism to Europe
381
First Council of Constantinople declares that that city exerts an equal authority in the East to that of Rome in the West
ca. 382
St. Jerome enters the service of Pope Damasus and is commissioned to produce a Latin edition of the Bible—the Vulgate
383
Death of Ulfilas, “Apostle to the Goths,” who translated the Bible into the Gothic language
392
Emperor Theodosius bans pagan worship, and Christianity effectively becomes the state religion of the Roman Empire
393
Council of Hippo and Council of Carthage (397) both name the 27 books of the New Testament we know today
ca. 400
Roman Empire begins to contract
5th century
Syriac translations of Old Testament and New Testament books combined to form the Peshitta,the standard text for Syriac-speaking Churches
early 5th century
Greek alphabet adapted by the missionary St. Mesrob to produce those of Armenia and Georgia
431
Council of Ephesus condemns the views of Nestorius on the nature of Christ; Bishop Palladius is sent from Rome to believers in southern Ireland
451
Council of Chalcedon condemns Monophysitism (the belief that Christ has only divine nature) and establishes five patriarchates—Constantinople, Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem
ca. 460–90
St. Patrick’s mission from the northern British Church to Ireland
548–65
Emperor Justinian founds the monastery now known as St. Catherine’s on Mt. Sinai
ca. 529
St. Benedict founds the monastery of Montecassino in Italy
563
St. Columba leaves Ireland on voluntary exile to evangelize the Picts and the English, and founds the monastery of Iona in western Scotland
580
Death of Cassiodorus, founder of the monastery called the Vivarium in southern Italy
588
Patriarch John IV of Constantinople declares himself Ecumenical Patriarch, a title still retained by the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church
597
Death of St. Columba; Pope Gregory the Great sends a Roman mission led by St. Augustine to Britain to convert the Anglo-Saxons
599
Pope Gregory the Great sends a legate bearing gifts to Sinai
604
Death of Pope Gregory the Great
ca. 610
The Prophet Muhammad begins preaching in Mecca
615–17
Paul of Tella makes the Syrohexapla, a translation into Syriac of Origen’s Hexapla
635
Monastery of Lindisfarne is founded in northeast England
ca. 641
Islamic conquest of eastern and southern Mediterranean complete
687
Death of St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
716
Abbot Ceolfrith of Wearmouth–Jarrow sets off for Rome in retirement, taking one of three great complete bibles made by his community as a gift for the pope
720s–787
Period of Iconoclasm in Byzantium
754/5
Death of St. Boniface, “Apostle to the Germans,” at Dokkum (now in The Netherlands)
735
On his deathbed the scholar Bede, a monk at Wearmouth–Jarrow, translates St. John’s Gospel into English
787
Council of Nicaea reinstates the use of images in Byzantium
793
Viking raids on Europe commence with the sacking of Lindisfarne
late 8th century
Theodulf of Orléans asserts the primacy of the word over images in his Libri carolini
800
Emperor Charlemagne crowned in Rome, solemnizing the creation of a Carolingian Empire; Abbot Alcuin of Tours completes a single-volume edition of the Vulgate Bible, copied throughout the Carolingian Empire
814–43
Resurgence of iconoclasm in Byzantium
869
Byzantine Emperor Constantine sends St. Cyril as a missionary to the Slavs; Cyril invents the Glagolitic alphabet from which Cyrillic is descended
ca. 950–60
Aldred glosses the Lindisfarne Gospels into Old English—the oldest surviving translation of the Gospels into English
ca. 962–1056
Ottonian Empire succeeds the Carolingian in Europe
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